Both progressive and extreme and original! Oh fuck, those are three things. Nevermind. Why haven't I picked this before? Because I'm an idiot, that's why.
Disclaimer: There are no actual horses playing pianos on this album.

If you're too lazy to read the awesome review that's one click away from you (shame on you!), this is what Alice heard while she was falling down the rabbit hole. You'll spend your first spin wondering what the hell is going on, and then it will grab you and never let you go.

Buried Alive sums up the glory of Sentenced (mostly of its later years) and their special combination of lightweight, melancholic music with dark humor and authentically painful lyrics. I always mistakenly call it End Of The Road instead of its real name, because for me it's a painful reminder that Miika Tenkula is not among us anymore, and that the solo he played during the last song is the last one he ever played on stage.

Whenever I pick up Firewind's latest effort, Days Of Defiance, I always end up listening to this instead. Classy, polished, catchy, heavy and prog-tinged, nicely written and performed - probably as high as this band's gonna get. No cigar in 2011 for you, lads. But it's cool, this one has got enough swag in it to last for several years.